Moving to Hawaii at 19...farfetched or unrealistic? (Hilo, Lahaina: real estate, apartment)

[blinkyblank]

Yes, do visit! I moved out for graduate school and if I'd just taken a few days and a few hundred bucks to visit before moving out there, I would've saved myself a lot of heartache, homesickness, and a few thousand dollars. Hawaii is a great place, but it's not for everyone, and you don't know that until you're out there. I figured out it wasn't for me on the first day and moved back at the end of the school year.

Also, keep in mind that the Hawaii you see as a tourist is not the same Hawaii you see when you move out there. I'd go back in a heartbeat as a tourist, but I still have nightmares about actually living there.

[kathysart]

I have lived in Hawaii for around 10 years now.. both Kauai and Big Island. Eeee gads No, don't ship your car, not unless you plan on staying for a really long time or your car is expensive. $500 ? It will cost you nearly as much as it is worth to ship it. Kauai, Oahu and Maui are the best for art.. but they are 'expensive' to live on. You can camp out on these islands too which a lot of people don't realize I think. Moderator cut: advertising

[timjoe48]

wonderful advice!

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Its better to take chances in life and explore and LIVE it rather than be afraid.

[joe aloha]

I really appreciate the info from native Hawiians about the possibility of moving. I too want to move there and visited Kauai in September the wife and I just fell in love with that beautiful island and it's very friendly people. I floated my resume out to some agencies on the islands and got a few hits and at least one interview which was by phone. Big question although it seemed they were impressed with my interview they said they would respond to me in "Hawaii time" that was about 4 weeks ago and have not heard anything except that the are still interviewing. Do Hawaiians have a different view of deadlines and timelines? Should I be worried? Or is that just the way you great people do things? I too am struggling with deciding to live on Kauai or Oahu . My wife is a little concerned about Honolulu.I am not because I grew up in Philly. Honolulu is probably smaller than what I was used to and she is concerned that we lose something due to the urban atmosphere. I told her there are other places besides Honolulu however it seems very expensive to buy a home no matter where you live on the island. Ewa beach seems nice and affordable however, any thoughts?

[Friend-in-Hawaii]

Kapolei is a nice up and comming area only 30 min from honolulu with many shops and stores.

As far as Hawaiian time, in my opinion if they havent contacted you in 4 months then i'd say it was their way of say no.

[kani-lehua]

Originally Posted by Friend-in-Hawaii

Kapolei is a nice up and comming area only 30 min from honolulu with many shops and stores.

As far as Hawaiian time, in my opinion if they havent contacted you in 4 months then i'd say it was their way of say no.

if you are not caught up in traffic, there's a possibility that you could get to downtown honolulu in 30 minutes. lots and lots of new development out on that side of the island.

[NomadicChickenwings]

i found out yesturday that a guy i awork with, his 2 daughters have been livin on hilo for 12 years. so im gettin their # and be able to talk to them. where is a good placeto look to find like an accurate description of each island? like what each island has to offer. id like to check out some colleges there. u know oahu has like near 2000 people per sq mile and houses like 3/4 the population. im ideally lookin for somethin a lil more slowed down maybe not so crowded. but also somewhere that has reasonable housing and job opportunities

[Sweetbeet]

The book, "So you want to live in Hawai'i" has a description of each island. Don't know how accurate it is (this forum also provides good info), but maybe worth checking out.

[Brav989]

Hawaiian Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Start there and follow the links to each of the islands. Has pretty general information however.

These are the island population densities.

Oahu - 1,468 persons/sq mi
Maui - 162 persons/sq mi
Kauai - 106 persons/sq mi
Big Island - 37 persons/sq mi
Molokai - 28 persons/sq mi
Lanai - 23 persons/sq mi

[Sweetbeet]

But, you have to remember that the population is distributed differently on the different islands. The big island, for example, has two population centers (Hilo and Kona), and a few other areas where people tend to congregate (Waimea, Volcano, Puna and others). Large portions of the island are relatively empty.

Kauai has almost all of its population concentrated around the coast, with the middle of the island relatively empty. Also the na pali coast is basically uninhabited.

I don't know about Oahu or Maui, but I suspect that the population (on Oahu, anyway) is more uniformly distributed (with a higher density in Honolulu).

As for "feel", I found the basic feel (as far as number of people) of the populated areas on the BI to be about the same as on Kauai. The particular areas have different cultural 'feels' to them, though - Kona is MUCH different from Hilo, Poipu is different from Kapa'a.